Chris Christie claims his campaign is ‘gaining momentum’ ahead of New Hampshire primary

2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie claimed Tuesday that his campaign is “gaining momentum,” and that he has gotten “much better in New Hampshire.”

Christie was asked about a previous statement he made on July 25, when he said he left the 2016 presidential race after losing in the state of New Hampshire. The former New Jersey governor was also asked about a comment he made in September if he did not do well in New Hampshire. When confronted with these past statements, Christie brushed off his comments and said that “nothing’s changed,” adding that there is no path “that doesn’t include me continuing.”

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“Look, I think, right now I’m in the top three, and I think I will do even better than that,” Christie said. “And so, you know, that’s what’s changed. What’s changed is that we started to move up in the polls pretty significantly. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy have dropped significantly in New Hampshire. So that’s what’s changed. And so I’m going to continue to keep you guys updated as circumstances change, and circumstances have changed.”

Christie did not specify which poll he was citing, though some polling data show him in third place at 11.6% in the state, with former President Donald Trump at 44.7% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 18.9%. Nationally, Christie is in fifth place at 2.9%.

The candidate added that voters’ views on who they will eventually choose should not be viewed as accurate this early, as various primary candidates who were initially in the lead lost momentum to other candidates later in the race. Examples that he cited included Newt Gingrich leading the Iowa caucuses around Thanksgiving in 2011 before losing to Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney initially leading the Iowa caucuses around Thanksgiving 2007 before losing to Mike Huckabee.

“So, you know, I know everybody wants to make this race over now, but it’s not over and it’s not even close to over,” Christie said. “When you just look at the history, forget about predictions, let’s look at what’s happened over time, and what’s happened tells you that there is a long way to go and I like the fact that we are gaining momentum now.”

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The New Hampshire primary, scheduled for Jan. 23 next year, is among the first across the United States that Republican primary candidates will need to face. On Sunday, Christie was asked if he plans to continue his campaign after the primary, to which he responded, “Absolutely.”

Before the primary, the Republican Party will host its next debate on Dec. 6, which will be the fourth Republican debate for the 2024 election cycle. To be eligible for the debate stage, the candidates will either need at least 6% in two approved national polls, or 6% in one poll from two separate early-voting states, which include Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. Additionally, candidates will need at least 80,000 unique donors, which will also require 200 unique donors per state or territory in at least 20 states, according to the Associated Press.